Rising workplace absence and how to manage it
Recent research suggests that employers are struggling to cope with rising absence in the workplace. In this blog, we’ll look at the data behind rising workplace absence, the reasons behind the increase, and what organisations can do to manage absence more effectively.
Is workplace absence on the rise?
A survey published by Totaljobs found that the number of sick days that UK employees take has risen by 41% in three years.
That’s a significant increase, and one that employers may find themselves ill-equipped to deal with.
In fact, a poll of 233 employers found that nearly half (48.5%) were seeing sickness absences affecting productivity levels. Organisations also admitted to seeing a decline in co-worker morale, a decline in service quality, and either direct or indirect financial implications as a result of employee sickness absence.
What has caused workplace absence to rise?
There might not be a clear-cut answer to that question, but experts suggest that several factors are affecting the number of sick days that employees are now taking, compared to three years ago, or even pre-pandemic levels.
As part of the survey by Totaljobs, 55% of HR leaders identified a deterioration in workplace culture, as well as decreasing employee satisfaction, as major reasons behind increase sickness rates.
It can easily turn into a vicious cycle. As people take sick leave from work, co-workers have to cover their workload, potentially adding to stress, burnout and frustration. The absent employee then has to catch up on what they’ve missed when they return to work, adding to the time it takes to get back on track. With poor resource planning and a lack of communication between managers and employees, feelings of resentment and dissatisfaction can quickly rise. All of this ultimately has a negative impact on productivity and an organisation’s bottom line.
It is also worth considering the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the workforce in general, and the ripples that we still feel from it today. It can be argued that the pandemic influenced how we view and acknowledge sickness in general. Social distancing and self-isolating became the norm, and raised people’s awareness of how easy it can be to spread illness. Today, more people may err on the side of caution when they feel even slightly ill, concluding that it’s probably better to stay at home and rest than venture to work, and call in sick as a result.
How can organisations manage workplace absence more effectively?
One of the simplest ways to manage workplace absence more effectively is to understand it. Why are employees taking sick leave? If HR and people managers don’t know the answer to that, they might be missing vital information about what it’s really like to work in an organisation. Heavy workloads, management styles, leadership decisions, bullying or harassment, and a lack of flexibility and autonomy might be behind some of the sickness absences in a workplace.
By having open, supportive conversations with employees, you can identify what’s causing sickness absence and may be able to take steps to help prevent more of it in the future.
To understand absence, it is first important to record and measure it. Sickness tracking provides you with the people data you need to see how much absence your employees are taking, when it occurs, and how often it’s happening amongst individuals.
You might notice patterns, such as higher absence during autumn and winter (due to higher sickness levels generally), and can therefore resource plan more effectively in anticipation of that. You might notice that an individual usually takes Mondays off, either because they spend the weekend worrying about a new week at work, or because they have to care for a family member alongside work. Both of these scenarios could be carefully managed and alleviated, such as by looking at workloads and responsibilities, and flexible working policies.
Once you have a good grasp over your absence data, and ensure there are clear policies and procedures in place for calling in sick, businesses can consider implementing different initiatives and benefits aimed at supporting employees.
Employee assistance programmes, mental health support, managerial training and awareness, buddy and mentor initiatives, financial wellbeing are just some of the examples that can be used to bolster workplace culture and the level of support offered to employees.
